


And You Let Her Go

by VoidofRoses



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-06
Updated: 2014-09-06
Packaged: 2018-02-16 07:58:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2261961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VoidofRoses/pseuds/VoidofRoses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Persephone and Hades in the mere hours before Persephone is due to return to the upper world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And You Let Her Go

**Author's Note:**

> something I wanted to write in celebration of spring in the Southern Hemisphere. please note that I refer to Hades as Aidoneus, one of his epithets.

"What are you doing still here?"

Persephone looked over her shoulder at her husband, watching Aidoneous' approach with a sadness to her eyes. He lowered his hand from where it rested on the frame of their bedroom door, tilting his head and attempting to remain as impassive as ever despite the both of them knowing their parting hurt him as much as her. Aidoneus crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall, pretending as such.

In three thousand years, nothing had changed since the first moment he saw her picking flowers. He still felt desire weigh heavy on his chest even as he watched her lean back over and lace up her boots, the cord trailing high along the front of her calf until it reached the top where she tied it in a perfect knot, fixing the sides down so that the tartan pattern on the inside was showing.

As the culture around them changed with the times, so did the gods. Aidoneus remembered the shy girl that had embraced him in his bed during their first consummation, long before Persephone grew comfortable with her role as his Queen. Gone was the simple mullberry-coloured chiton that had covered her skin, replaced over the centuries with various styles of dress from Victorian noble dress to the modern day clothing of punks who swore loudly and drank and smoked before they were legal.

"Your mother is going to kill me for letting you dress like that," he murmured, eyes raking along her form appreciatively as she stood and picked up her bag of few things that she didn't keep down here in the Underworld. Milky legs encased in fishnets that led down to floral printed boots, hips hugged by shorts and upper body covered by a black long-sleeved shoulder cut top. Her long black hair was tied into a bun at the back of her head, wisps of hair floating down the back of her neck.

"Mother's been going to kill you for the last three thousand years or so, Aidon," she responded playfully, placing a hand on her hip as she shrugged. "I hardly think how I dress has any say in the matter, though it might give her more incentive."

He came closer, lifting a hand to cup her face. She leaned into his touch - a touch mortals thought so cruel as to touch her without her consent, when in reality she had been all too consenting. Why be a scared little girl when you could be Queen of the Underworld? A woman of your own free will? Aidoneus tilted her head, kissing her lips oh so chastely, so softly, that it made her melt against him, his coarse, thick black beard tickling her chin. Persephone slid her hands up, sliding under his dark shirt and trailing her nails deftly across rough skin, her foot popping out from underneath her.

The kiss was broken all too soon, their mouths remaining within a hair's breath, so close she could smell the air coming from his lungs as it ghosted across her cheeks as his lips moved, gracing one, then her jaw, and sliding down her throat as her wandering hands came to settle on his hips. Persephone sighed lovingly, surrendering her neck to him with a tilt of her head, her green eyes fluttering closed as Aidoneus worshiped her.

"I wish I didn't have to go." The same lines she'd murmured to him each time spring came over years and years. Persephone twisted her fingers, clutching them in the folds of his shirt as her breast heaved and shuddered desire.

"You know your mother would come after me through hell or high water if you stayed," he whispered against the skin of her neck, kissing the curve of her shoulder not hidden by her shirt. "Not even Zeus could contain Demeter's rage."

"I'm three thousand years old, I'm not a naive little girl," she whined with a small pout that made him smile softly. "I'm a _Queen_. I shouldn't have to answer to mother's whims anymore. I love you."

"And I you. The Underworld will wait for your return, my love, as will I, and each passing day will be painful until I see you again." Aidoneus grazed his thumb along the height of her cheekbone, tilting his head to kiss her forehead softly before he pulled away, fishing around in a pouch at his side. Cupping her hand, he placed three glowing pearls, each one as beautiful as the last, into the center and closed her fingers around them, spreading his own hands over it. "For when you want to talk to me. Zeus has granted us this much."

"Father could grant me the amnesty to stay with you year round without feeling mother's wrath but nooooo, three calls is all I get. This isn't one of those bloody game shows mortals are so fond of." Persephone pursed her lips together and shook her head, making a mental note to make a necklace out of them later as she put them in her knapsack.

He chuckled and kissed her again just before he heard a voice behind them. "It's time for you to go, my lady." Damn Hecate and her timing. Aidoneus turned to walk beside her to the bedroom door to where the other goddess was waiting, his hand resting in the small of her back as he accompanied them to the entrance of his realm where Demeter would be waiting anxiously on the other side.

Light filtered through the threshold of the Underworld despite the wall concealing its entrance in the mortal world. Aidoneus' hand fell from her back when he reached the point where he could go no further, causing her to turn around and look at him with a pained expression, like leaving him hurt more than anything.

"My lady?"

"One second, Hecate. Please."

Persephone took the steps down to him two at a time, until she was standing on the one just above his. Even then she had to stand on her tiptoes to kiss his forehead, placing her hands on his chest before she kissed his lips softly, lingering there before she pulled back to look at him, the green of her eyes meeting his darker ones.

"I will the seasons to pass quickly until we can meet again, my love."

"As do I."

She turned before he could see the tears pricking her eyes and bounded back up the steps to Hecate, the two goddesses disappearing into the light to the other side of the threshold, back to Persephone's mother. Aidoneus lingered around the staircase before he turned, noticing Thanatos looking at him with a lewd grin on the death god's face.

"Not another word."


End file.
